Belinda Granger is TOUGH!
Belinda Granger, the proud owner of 11 Ironman-distance titles that include three Ironman Koreas, two Ironman Malaysias, two Ironman Canadas, single Ironman China and Lake Placid wins, plus a revered 2005 win here at Roth, was a little miffed back in June. I had written on a Slowtwitch story about the Honu Ironman 70.3 race that opined that second-place finisher Samantha McGlone, "if fully healthy and back on form," would not have been beaten by Belinda Granger, who did indeed win.
After an informative and spirited e-mail discussion, Granger wrapped up her point of view by stating something like this: It's every triathlete's responsibility to get to the start line healthy and ready to race. No excuses. No ifs ands or buts. I won that race fair and square and theoretical discussions about how my opponent at her best at that distance was unbeatable were bunk.
To everyone who knows Granger, the news that a car knocked her off her bike and left her bruised and bloody a few days before Quelle Challenge Roth was greeted with great dismay. Granger is intelligent, funny, generous, a great Ironman athlete and is universally acknowledged as having the best washboard abs of any woman triathlete on the planet. Those who know her well are also well aware that she loves Felix Walchshofer's Challenge races, and Roth in particular. Coming off her Honu win, she was raring at the bit to vie with old Brett Sutton Team TBB training partner Chrissie Wellington and the rest of the high-powered women's field at Roth. She had high hopes of avenging her lowest finish ever at Roth – 4th, despite a spectacular PB 8:58:08 time.
"I was riding 10 minutes from my home stay in Pfaffenhofen, not on the course," said Granger who sported three splint bandages on her left hand fingers and blotchy bruises on her right quadricep. "A car was coming in the other direction and he turned in front of me."
Granger said the incident still seemed inexplicable. "It's crazy," she said. "I promise you we had eye contact. He definitely saw me, but he didn’t indicate a turn. That's why I didn't even slow up."
Next, she says, "As he turned in front of me, I tried to turn, of course. But I hit the passenger door with my leg and my shoulder. Nothing was broken, but my left hand fingers were badly sprained and bruised. And I have a mild hematoma on my right quadricep which I will have to watch carefully."
Granger said Friday that the swelling was worse and the bruises look even more frightful, but those are signs of healing – thanks in large part to dedicated Roth physios and doctors who were called by Team Challenge. "They work on my every day to get me ready, for the race," said Granger. "Right now, I've been back in the pool and swimming fine, the bike feels great. At the moment, all my worries are centered on the run, which is high impact, although the flat, densely packed dirt paths at Roth are ideal."
But it's not just the run itself, says Granger. "I know I'm ok for a small amount of time. But for so long, it's a dark cloud question mark." Granger adds, "the other thing about Roth is that you know it's going to hurt, healthy or not. It's not the hills or the terrain – it's the speed and the competition."
Searching for a positive, Granger says the accident may have been a blessing in disguise. "My husband says I have been a little slack with my tapers and not given each race enough credit," said Granger. "So this time I'll have forced rest. I came in really fit and if I recover enough from the crash, I might even have my best race."
Granger says that "at this time in my career, after 32 Ironman races, I don’t want another DNF to my record. So I will make sure to finish however the day goes. But I am on notice to watch my leg carefully. If the hematoma swells up in the race, that is a danger signal and I will have to pull out."
Granger is also investigating a way to cut out the webbing between her three fingered splint so it won't be considered as an illegal paddle during the swim.
Granger also had a relatively light, for her, early season. That's because she had an operation in February to replace an artery which directs blood to her lower body that had grown sclerotic and pumped an insufficient amount of blood to her swift legs. In February procedure, doctors took a strip of artery from her leg and replaced the clogged up strip at her abdomen.
"I was worried that it would mar my abs, which are my trademark," smiled Granger, who then showed the reporter, LBJ-style , the mark of the subtle incision.
No worries, said the reporter! Not even a slight distraction to the work of art that is her six pack.
Then I stopped to think. No wonder Granger took exception to the comment that McGlone would have beaten her if fully healthy. She was competing just three months after a complex operation repairing a crucial artery.
No ifs ands or buts. No excuses. Belinda Granger!
